Getting Wings
by A. Hope Never Forgotten
Summary: When a girl goes to a research facility on a field trip and overhears some scientists talking about giving someone wings, what does she decide to do? Leave it be or volunteer to get wings, her dream?
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Ahh, the joys of waking up in the middle of the night to type.**

**Nudge: I'd prefer to be sleeping at 3 in the morning.**

**Me: Too bad, my winged kidnapee.**

**Nudge: -eyerolls—**

**Disclaimer: Since JP won't give me the rights to Maximum Ride, I still do not own it.**

**Dedication: To the people who read my crappy stories. Woohoo!**

* * *

"Good afternoon, class. Today we'll be learning about…"

I tuned out the teacher and turned towards the window. It was a beautiful day out; blue sky with few clouds and a nice breeze. A flock of pigeons flew off the roof from the building next to us. One of the birds flew right in front of the sun and, for a second, you could see the outline of the bird down to each feather on its wings. Oh, how amazing it must be to be able to fly with only the winds in your face and the sun on your wings. And just-

"Beatrice," called the teacher, taking me out of my daydreams. "Can you tell us the answer to this problem?"

"Uh," I thought for a second, doing the math in my head. "354 square feet"

The teacher glared at me for a second and then said, "Correct" She continued on with the math lesson.

For the rest of the class I stared out the window and at the birds flying around. I was knocked out of my daze by the bell. I started to quickly gather my books and pencils so I could get out of the classroom first.

"Remember to bring in your permission slips to go on the field trip to the research facility," yelled the teacher over the commotion of students chattering.

Ooh, my permission slip. What did I do with it? I tried to look in one of my folders for it, but knocked into someone causing both of our things to fall.

"Sorry! Sorry," I exclaimed and knelt down to pick everything up. "Sorry. I didn't see you."

The boy I ran into had mousy brown hair and warm brown eyes. He also knelt down and began picking up his things.

"No, it's my fault. I wasn't watching were I was going," he said. "You're Beatrice, right? I'm Tomy."

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Tomy," I said with a smile and hand back his notebook.

He picked up my sketch book and asks, "Is this yours?" I nodded and he opened the book.

I inwardly cringe and expect him to laugh at my drawings and sketches of birds, but he just keeps flipping through the pages.

"You draw really well," he said.

"Well, thanks." I said surprised. We got up and walked into the hallway. Tomy kept flipping through the pages of my sketchbook which were covered in birds and the likes of. "It's kind of a hobby of mine." I babbled on.

"They're really cool. Hey, did you know that the place we're going to on Friday studies birds? Bet they have all kinds birds there."

"Probably." I paused for a second then blurted, "Wouldn't I be cool if they could put wings on a person?"

He laughed. "Maybe they do." With that and a wave, he turned into another hallway and to his locker.

What an interesting thought indeed if they could put wings on a person…

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**Me: That came out soooo good! –wipes away imaginary tear—I'm so proud.**

**Nudge: Zzzzz…**

**Me: Nudge!**

**Nudge: Wa-**

**Me: Just making sure you're awake for the end.**

**Nudge: Need. Sleep. Bye. –falls out of chair, asleep—**

**Me: -laughs—Now where's that sharpie?**

**R&R?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: Hi peoples!**

**Nudge: Hello everybody else!**

**Me: Woohoo, chapter two! This is, I think, the only fanfiction I had actually planned to a point. **

**Nudge: You mean to the next chapter?**

**Me: Psh, no. Of course not. I got till, like… a chapter with a number planned out.**

**Nudge: Soooo descriptive.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except that doughnut…**

**Dedication: The random people of the world! And exclamation points! !1!**

* * *

We pulled up at the research facility, which wasn't too spectacular. It was boring beige and kind of blocky like architect was inspired by Lego blocks in the desert. The teachers quickly herded us into the building because the school bus was starting to block the early morning traffic in the downtown.

The lobby was decidedly more interesting. It had spring green wall and was decorated with sleek modern furniture. Colorful pieces of op art hung on the walls at regular intervals. On either side of the reception desk were hallways disappearing deep into the building. Behind the desk sat a brunette woman who immediately got up at the commotion of my class entering. For a small class we could be really loud.

"Okay then, students! Welcome!" she chirped. "Let's all head this way to the conference room, where you'll be briefed on everything you'll be doing today."

Once everyone had entered said conference room and calmed down, a lab-coated man started speaking about our day. He said that they did genetic research on birds and we'd be seeing a few of their labs, along with explanations of what they were doing. But the part that intrigued me the most was that we'd be seeing their very large aviary! The man concluded his speech and we set off to the aviary.

We were lead to the center of the building and all crammed into a tiny room with a mirror on one side.

"We will now be entering the aviary," the man said. "This room is so none of the birds escape into the offices. Please do not touch or feed the birds." He pushed open the fogged glass door.

Inside the aviary, tall trees ruled the ceiling and ivy climbed up the walls. Sunlight filtered through the sunroof lighting up the vibrant flowers and plants were spread across the ground. Gravel paths wound their ways around the huge open room. Above all, birds of all types flew hither and dither, their cawing and squawking the only thing you could you could hear.

I wandered the paths admiring all the birds until I reached a dead end at a small waterfall. There I sat playing with the water until a bright bird landed on my arm.

"Well hello there, little guy," I said to the bird, who cocked his head at me.

Another bird, a wren, alighted next to that one, chirping what seemed a hello. Soon after yet another slightly larger bird landed on my shoulder. I was petting my little avian crowd and grinning happily when someone cleared their throat behind me. My jump sent all the birds into the air before they once again perched on my arm.

"Well, aren't you popular," Tomy said jokingly, walking over.

A few more birds settled on me while I replied, "Yeah, or maybe I've mistaken me for a coatrack." I stifled a giggle when a blue jay decided to rest on my head.

Tomy chuckled as four or five hummingbirds carefully landed on my glasses' rims. "It looks like they've made you an honorary bird."

I rolled my eyes in Tomy's direction though I couldn't really see around all the bright feathers and laughed. "Maybe they think I'm one of their own." I wouldn't be surprised since my hair now probably looked like a messy bird's feathers what with all the birds' pecking curiously at it.

Tomy held his fingers out to the hummingbirds on my glasses. They paused for a second before moving onto his hand. Free of feathers blocking my vision, I could see Tomy grinning widely at the birds causally hanging out on just about every part of me.

"They really seem to like you, but it's still strange how they're so comfortable around people," he said as the hummingbirds took off in favor of some colorful flowers.

I cautiously observed the parrot on my shoulder who had found a sudden interest in my flower hair clips. I shrugged sending the bird flapping and said, "Maybe is something with the research they're doing on them."

Just as I finished my statement, a scientist man we hadn't seen before came around the bend in the path. He stopped, looking shocked, then glared at me. He marched up to Tomy and me, shooing away the birds.

"_Don't _touch the birds, please," he said annoyed.

I, equally annoyed now, said "Well, it's not like we were tackling the birds; they decided on their own to land on me."

The man eyed me suspiciously before muttering, "Interesting." He cleared his throat and continued. "Your class is grouping to move on. Please go meet them at the door." He turned on his heel and promptly left us, presumably to gather up any other wandering pupils.

"Well," I started, brushing off feather of various size and color, "They sure pride themselves in friendly service here, don't they?"

"He was probably jealous that the birds liked you more than him," Tomy joked and stood up. He held out his arm and said, "Shall we?"

I took it and said, "We shall indeed!"

For the next couple of hours, our class was shown several labs and given lengthy descriptions of what was going on in each. Tomy and I talked and joked all the while if not just to not fall asleep during the boring speeches that seemed to drag on. Actually, Tomy managed to make everything much more interesting and funny.

Our group was heading to the cafeteria for lunch when I heard a bit a very curious conversation echoing from down a hall. Since we were at the back of the crowd, no one noticed when I tugged Tomy into the other hallway, though he gave me a funny look. I mimed for him to be quiet and listen.

"…new subjects for the project."

"The new research would prove most effective if only we could test it…"

"Just think! We could make even better avian-human hybrids than…"

Right then, I was overcome by a sneeze. Tomy and I just managed to dart around the corner out of sight when someone pushed open a door.

"Just leave it, Rosa. It was probably those kids going to another lab."

Whoever was at the door paused for a second before laugher erupted from the room. With that, the person let the door go.

"What, did you think it was your subjects to put wings on?" someone's tease escaped from the door still ajar.

Without a second thought, I burst into that room, only thinking _maybe they can give me my dream… Maybe they can give me wings…_

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**Me: Yay! Another good chapter! If not a bit strange, but that's fine.**

**Nudge: Yeah. Let's hope the next one comes out as good. **

**R&R?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my friend some money. Oh wait, that's owe... Derp.**

**Dedication: The people who also get words mixed up.**

* * *

The scientists stared at me.

And stared.

And stared.

Finally one of them spoke up.

"What did you hear?" she asked. Her hair was bad bleach blond and she wore too much makeup. She was leaning against one of the white counters, all of which had nothing on them except for a clipboard and a couple of beakers.

"Enough to know you can give me wings," I replied.

The scientists turned to one another and started whispering quietly, occasionally quickly turning to look at us or point. I caught pieces of what they we're saying: "…about their parents?"

"We can take care of that, but what about them?"

"They would seem to fit what we need."

A man with salt and pepper hair and dark gray eyes turned to us. "Did you really come in to see if you could do this?" he asked.

"No," I said dripping with sarcasm. "I came in here to say hi and invite you all to dinner." I was annoyed at how they stared at me, like I was some toy to be gained and experimented with.

The man narrowed his eyes at me. "I would watch your mouth if were you."

Another scientist came forward. He seemed younger than the rest and had dark brown curly hair. He was the only one who didn't look at me like I was a toy, but like I was an actual person.

"What about your parents? How would they react?" he asked.

I smiled ruefully. "I live in a foster house. My parents gave me up when I was hardly even born. The caretaker at the house told me my parents couldn't bear to have me around because their other kid had gone missing not too long before I was born."

Everyone had varying degrees of emotion. From surprise to shock, pleasure to horror. Poor Tomy was probably the most shocked one there. No one school knew I lived at a foster home. Well, then again no one at school knew much of anything about me.

The curly-haired man seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Ah, well, that's… unfortunate for you. What about you?" he asked to Tomy.

Tomy shrugged. "I live with my parents and my little sister."

"Hmm," was all the curly-haired man said.

"Hmm? What's that supposed to mean?" I asked a bit irritated.

The curly-haired man looked to the other scientists. For help maybe? One of the scientists, the bad bleach blonde with too much makeup, gave a slight nod.

The older man with dark grey eyes was the one who spoke. "We'll need to examine you quickly to make sure this will work on you .If you will come through here, please." He gestured to a door on the far side of the room.

I looked at Tomy. He gave a barely perceptible shrug that probably meant, _Why not? _We crossed the clean white lab to the door. I grabbed the door handle and quickly let go of it. It was surprisingly cold as if the room on the other side was a freezer.

Not for the first time, I thought if I should be trusting these people. I mean, they were probably experimenting on people if they already came up with a way to give wings to a person. How did I know that these people weren't lying? I could just hope that they weren't lying _and_ they could give me wings.

I thought that all in less than a few seconds but the hesitation was enough to be noted by Tomy.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked in a voice low enough for only me to hear. "You sure you want to trust them?"

"Yes," I whispered back. "If they are telling the truth, just think. Wings!" I raised my voice a little too much on that last word and I winced.

Finally I opened the door.

Inside I was well lit and the same white as the lab. The only difference was that there were all sorts of doctor equipment scattered around. Scales and different machines that I didn't even know what they did. It looked like a torture chamber.

I heard Tomy gasp quietly beside me. "Wow."

"If you could just stand over there and we'll examine you," said a voice. I looked to my left. The older man had silently entered the room and was waiting for us to walk over to what, I think, was a sort of scale.

I shrugged and walked over. Suddenly all the scientists were around Tomy and me.

The examination was pretty quick, considering that all the scientists were measuring and calculating at once. All I saw was a blur of people poking me with cold metal things and writing down every measurement. Some of the scientists were the ones Tomy and I saw in the lab. There were a few others that just seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Then as quickly as they appeared, they left.

I threw my hands out to the sides and let them fall back against me. "So then…?" I let the question hang in the air.

The older man, John I heard someone call him, was writing something down on his clipboard. He looked up at us. "You are to come back tomorrow so we can complete the procedure." He eyed us carefully. "At 8 o'clock in the morning. No sooner or later."

"Sure," I said while Tomy nodded slowly. For the first time I wondered if he wanted to do this. After all, I was the one who burst into the room, asking about wings.

John led us back to the reception area soundlessly. Tomy and I trailed behind him as we walked. Once we were in the room, our class came through the other door. I had forgotten all about them. And it seems they didn't miss us either.

"Come on, class. We have to go now," said a teacher in a slightly raised voice so she could be heard over the kids chattering away.

Tomy and I melted into the school line. I turned to him. "Are you really going to come tomorrow?" I asked in a whisper so no one could hear us. "Because you really don't have to if you don't want to. I just dragged you into this whole thing."

He smiled at me. "Of course I'm coming." He punched my arm playfully. "I'll be you bird-kid buddy." His voice was warm and playful, but his eyes showed a hint of worry.

"Well, okay then," I said slowly with my eyebrows knit. "We'll meet up on the park on Milberry St. at like noon."

"Didn't the man say to be here at 8?" he queried curiously

It was my turn to smile now. I was on the bus stairs and I turned back to him and said, "Now, then, what teenager gets up before noon?"

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**Me: Yeah! Another chapter down, many more to go!**

**Nudge: That is if you ever get aroudn to writing them**

**Me: That is a whole other story, hun.**

**R&R?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: Holy crap! This is like my third straight update. Consistently! **

**Nudge: I know, I'm shocked. You're, like, the queen of procrastination. **

**Me: Indeed I am. I've been meaning to make a crown for that, but never seem to get around to it.**

**Nudge: My point proven.**

**Me: Anyway, this regular posting is dangerous. What if people start to expect this?**

**Nudge: -sarcasm—Yeah, that'd be awful. Doing something normally. –shakes head—**

**Me: Scary thought isn't it? I should probably update some of my other stories; they're so neglected.**

**Nudge: Or you could type up a new story. You're not lacking any ideas.**

**Me: Yeah… Maybe later.**

**Nudge: -eyerolls-**

**Disclaimer: Mimi nor Alice nor Nudge own anything in this story. Or any of the other ones.**

**Dedication: The procrastinators! Them people, who wait till ten at night to, say, type up a story to post at midnight.**

* * *

I pulled my red coat around me as the chilly wind blew past me. I looked at the sky; it was filled with dark gray clouds ambling across the sky. There was a flash of lightning closely followed by a loud clap of thunder. _It was going to start pouring any minute_, I thought. Where was Tomy? He said he would be at the park a half hour ago and it was freezing. Another cold gust of wind blew around me. I rubbed my hands together and blew on them to try and warm up.

I pulled my old, purple- and green-striped backpack on my back. It was filled with my few things that I bought myself; a couple changes in clothes, a pairs of shoes, my dog-eared copies of A Winkle in Time and Alice in Wonderland, and a chunk of purple quartz I'd found when I was seven in this park.

I rounded the corner of the park. There, a few yards away, Tomy was walking towards me. I sped up to reach him faster.

"Jeez, where have you been?" I said a bit annoyed, "It's the freaking artic out here." I jumped up and down to get my blood moving.

He put his hands up to calm me down, but he was smiling. "If it's so cold, then how come you didn't wear something warmer?"

I looked down at myself. I was wearing high-top sneakers, jeans and a T-shirt with a long, but incredibly thin, red trench coat. The top of my good luck necklace could be seen peeking out of my collar. It was a piece of golden amber with a scarab beetle set inside the center. I scowled and said, "I didn't think you would take so long. Plus I couldn't find my winter coat." The said winter coat probably didn't even fit any more since I seem to grow an inch a week. "Come on, let's go. The dude's probably pissed off we aren't there already."

"Then on we shall go." He offered his arm and I took it. "Besides, I think you're turning blue from the cold."

I rolled my eyes and smiled while he laughed. We walked across the park to the street. The street was almost empty. Nobody wanted to be out in this cold and, probably soon, rain.

I pushed the light beige door of the research center open. A blast of warn air hit me as I walked in. At least now I won't be frozen.

The waiting room hadn't changed much. It still had all the sleek and modern furniture. The spring grass green walls were still dotted here and there with op art paintings. But now that I looked closer, I could see cracks in the paint that showed the gray sheetrock and that the paintings were chipped around the edges and hung crookedly on the walls. The leather chairs were also worn and cracked. I wondered why I didn't notice this before.

I walked up to the reception desk. There was a new person sitting behind the desk. The lady from before was a brunette with pin-straight hair and an overall perky attitude. Now there was an older woman with long graying hair tried back into a pony tail. Her face was wrinkled and her dark brown eyes were stern.

When Tomy and I walked in, she looked up at us. She pressed a button on her impeccable desk and muttered something into some sort of intercom. Then she raised her steady glare to us and said harshly, "You're late." She pointed to the left hall. "The third door on the left. Some one will be waiting for you there." She went back to typing and clicking on her –surprisingly- shiny, new computer. It stuck out in the room filled with weathered old furniture.

I wrinkled my eyebrows at her harshness. There was no need for that. Tomy and I turned to the hall and began walking down. It, too, seemed more weathered and cracked than I remembered it.

"You know you don't have to come with me," I whispered, "I'll be fine."

Tomy shook his head. "I've come this far already and I'm not turning back." The corner of his mouth quirked up into a sort of half smile. "Besides, I'm going to be your best winged friend after this."

Suddenly I realized he was going to do this, too. All this time I thought he was just being a really good friend if not wanting to be a bit more than friends. I'd dragged him into this mess. I could NOT let him do this. I turned to said so, but he interrupted by saying, "Here we are. Third door on the left."

He pushed the steel gray-colored door open and walked in. I sighed heavily and walked trough the doorway. The room I'd entered had the same steel gray-colored walls as the door. There was a large dark table in the center of the room surrounded by matching chairs. At one end of the table, there was John. He was sitting there with his hands folded expectantly.

"I said for you to be here at 8 o'clock sharp," He said harshly. I opened my mouth to reply but John continued on. "I expect you to manage your time more effectively in the future. You may be late, but we still can proceed with the operation. Follow me." He got out of his chair and walked across the bland room to another steel gray-colored door.

Operation? That's one way to put it. The rather scarier way to call it. Personally, I prefer to call it a change. Sounds more… normal. I shook my head to rid it of the frightening thoughts that flooded my mind.

Tomy and I followed him through the door into a long hallway about six feet across. There was a window that took up most of the top part of the right-side wall and it went all the way down the corridor, stopping a couple feet short of a door. The door was stark white against the dark, black walls.

John stopped by the door to enter a code into an almost invisible keypad, which was to the right of the door. The keypad beeped and a green light flashed in the corner. The door opened and John walked through it. Tomy walked to the door, but I stopped and looked in the window. I could see John flipping through some pages on his clipboard and I saw Tomy walked into the room and look around. I didn't want to be left in the hallway so I walked hurriedly to the door.

The room, as if to match the door, was snow white. The counters, walls, and linoleum were all bright white. The window I saw in the hallway was apparently one way because when I looked at it, I only saw myself looking quizzically at me. There was a bed in the middle of the room. It was slightly slanted upwards and seemed slightly chunky along the side. There was a roller chair next to the bed. There were also small, steel roller tables with syringes, knifes and other doctor things.

"You," John pointed at Tomy, "are going in the next room." He looked up from his paper on the clipboard and walked to and through the door on the left corner of the room.

Tomy turned to me and sighed. "Well, good luck then."

Much to Tomy's surprise, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. After a couple seconds of shock, he hugged me back.

When I pulled away, he had a blush on his face. "Good luck to you, too. I'm sure we'll see each other after," I waved my hands wildly towards the bed and small tables. "this," I finished.

Tomy nodded and said breathlessly, "Yeah. I'm sure." He turned and walked to the door. Halfway through the door he turned to look at me. I waved lamely at him. He returned the wave and walked through the door.

I sighed. _What had I gotten into,_ I though for the millionth time. I ran my hand through my hair. Well there's no turning back.

I heaved off my heavy backpack and dropped it onto the counter. It must have made a loud thump when it landed, but I couldn't hear it because some one had walked in and slammed the door shut.

"Lie on the bed," said a voice from behind me. The man who was ordering me around was now sitting in the roller chair. He was about middle aged with brown hair that was dotted with gray. His pale blue eyes watched me carefully as I walked to the bed.

The bed was cold and a bit lumpy, but otherwise fine. Before I laid back I saw something I had missed before. There were think, brown leather buckles that looked like they went are your ankles. If I wasn't nervous before, now I was flat out scared.

The man got up and pulled something from under the sides of the bed. Whatever he pulled out, there were matching buckles at the ends. Then he went around and started cinching the buckles.

"Um," I asked nervously, "What are you doing?"

My wrists and ankles were buckled up –a bit too tightly—so he came around to my head. It seems that there was a buckle for my head, too. "You will feel the need to move around during this and you must remain still or it my not work properly."

"Oh," was all I said.

He had buckled up my head so now I could only move my fingers and toes. He flipped through some papers, muttering under his breath. I couldn't hear anything, but even if I could, I would've tried to block it out.

"We can't administer an anesthetic because it would have terrible side effects." His hand hovered momentarily over a small steel table. I gulped as he picked a syringe and tested it. Then he stuck it in my right arm.

First, after the cold prick of the needle, I felt nothing except a minor burning in my arm. Then it spread and the burning got more intense. I felt another cold prick, this time on my left arm.

Now the fire had spread everywhere. I felt like my very bones were on fire and melting. The pain was immense, but I was determined to stay conscious. The fire grew and grew until I could barely take it any more. I strained against the leather buckles holding me in place. I felt another cold prick, but it was as if I was watching me from a distance. Suddenly the pain was too much and I passed out.

* * *

I half awoke some time later. Everything looked so white and blurry until I realized I was lying on my stomach and was looking at the bed sheets. I felt something going on somewhere on my back. It felt cold, but I felt like I was in a dream. I passed out again.

* * *

This time when I woke up, I was lying on my back again. My ankles and head were free of buckles, but not my wrists. I could still feel a burning in my bone, but I also felt, like some huge weight had been lifted off me. I looked deliriously across the room. Some people were sitting on the counter reading a magazine. They looked over at me and one of them jumped off the counter and walked towards me. That was the last thing I remember before I backed out once more.

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**Me: Hmm... Seems a bit morbid. Oh, well.**

**Nudge: What is it with you and cliffhangers?**

**Me: -shruggs- Who knows? But they're so annoying, they're fun!**

**R&R?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Both: Happy Halloween!**

**Me: Wanna know what's even better?**

**Nudge: It's two days until Halloween and we still have no costumes?**

**Me: You are right, my winged captive!**

**Nudge: We're so freakin' awesome for that.**

**Me: -nodnod- We were gonna make them, but my sewing machine decided to break. –shivers—Not a pretty picture.**

**Nudge: I never knew a needle could break that way. So many pieces…**

**Me: Another reason why technology hates me.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but a busted sewing machine and about a hundred pieces of needle.**

**Dedication: To those who **_**make**_** their costumes. And succeed. **

* * *

When I came to, and stayed conscientious, my whole body ached all over, specifically on my back. I opened my eyes expecting to see my normal ceiling; slightly cracked and white, and covered with glow-in-the-dark stars and moons. But instead, it was gray and smooth with no stickers of stars or moons. There was a long florescent light flickering occasionally in the center of the ceiling.

I pushed my hands into the thin, hard mattress, pulled myself into sitting position and immediately regretted it. My head spun and throbbed. I pressed my palms into my temples to try and stop the pain. After my head cleared, I remembered where I was.

My hands flew to my back. Nope, no wings. It was as smooth as it was yesterday, if not a bit more numb. If it was yesterday I was walking in the park freezing my ass off looking for Tomy. Tomy!

My head whipped around the room, looking for a sign that he had come through here. There was no sign that anyone had been here in a while. I got off the bed, which creaked in protest, to explore the small, sparsely furnished room. The walls were a dull gray, as was the floor. There was a small nightstand by the bed with nothing on or in it. Across the room there was a dark, wooden desk with a matching chair that had my purple- and green-striped backpack hanging over it.

As I walked across the room to get to my backpack, I noticed I was wearing a long, white shift with long cuts in the back. I was pretty sure I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt when I came here. Well, that's not the creepiest thing that's happened in the last few days. At least, I think it was a few days ago. _How long have I been asleep?_ I thought, rubbing my sore head.

My backpack still had all my things in it. At least no one took my stuff while I was out cold. I tried to put the backpack on my back, but it hurt too much. I took it off and clutched it to my chest and looked for a way out of this room. There were two doors in the room; one on the north wall and one on the east. I ran lightly over the cold floor to the east door.

I turned the cold, metal door knob and stepped, unnaturally quietly, in to the room. It was a small bathroom. There was a floor length mirror across from the door. It must have been a very long mirror to be about to fit my tall body and then some in the mirror. I turned and left the room.

I went over to the north door and tried to open it. It was locked **(This phrases is so freakin' annoying if you've ever played a Nancy Drew game. XD)**.I pulled at the door. I pushed at the door. I even rammed it with my shoulder, which only caused more pain in my back and, now, my shoulder.

I trudged over to the chair and plopped down, face in my hands. What was I going to do? I was trapped in a dark, cold room and my back hurt like hell. I trudged over to the bathroom to change. Maybe I would feel better in my own clothes. Once inside, I decided to take a hot shower while I was at it. Who knows how long it's been since my last one?

The warm water felt great against my back. It dulled the pain so I could barely feel it anymore. After I'd dried myself, I looked at my back in the mirror. There in the center of my back were two fluffy, little wings sprouting from my back. They were about two feet long. Whatever they had done to me worked fast. I estimated that in about a half an hour I would have two eight-foot long wings. My dream had come true; I finally had wings!

I was sitting on the bed tying my high-tops when there was a knock on the door. I whipped my head up and looked at the door. One of the scientists was coming into the room. He was the one with dark curly hair and was the one who had been somewhat nice to Tomy and me before.

"Hello, Beatrice." He seemed a bit nervous and his eyes darted from around the room and always landing on the door. He looked like he was expecting someone to burst in the door at any minute. "Do you have all your things? We have to go. Now."

"Go where?" I asked suspiciously. What was he doing?

He glanced back at the door. "I'm leaving here. You and Tomy are going to Colorado. There will be some people there who will let you stay with them." He saw my dubious face and added, "You have to trust me. If we don't leave now we'll be caught and then…" He left his sentence hanging in the air.

Strangely, I trusted him. There was something in his golden eyes that convinced me that he was telling the truth. I nodded slowly and got up. We ran out of the room and continued silently in the hall. He took so many turns that I lost tracked and just followed him. Just before we rounded a corner, I heard voices.

"Should we ever tell them about the other experiment? The ones that got away?"

"No. That wouldn't help. They would just try to break out and get to them. Besides, they're not exactly the same. The new ones have 2 different strands of …"

Around when the second person started speaking, I passed a door. I started to slow down, but the young scientist silently urged me to keep going. I sped up and missed the end of the last sentence. There were other bird-kids? I have 2 different strands of what? Bird species? DNA? Cheese? I shook my head before more ridiculous thoughts came to it. I'd figure it out later.

We finally made it outside. It was dark and starry. Standing by the door was a woman who looked very much like the scientist who freed me. She had long, dark curly hair and amber eyes. From behind her, I saw Tomy step out. I was so delighted to see Tomy that I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered.

"Me too," I said breathlessly back. I was glad it was dark out so when he pulled away he couldn't see the blush that had taken over my face.

"Come on. We have to go." The woman waved us to a building across a narrow field.

I fell in step with Tomy in the back.

"Do you know them?" I asked in a hushed tone.

Tomy nodded. "She said her name was Melinda and that her twin, Dmitri, was going to get you."

Dmitri and Melinda started to climb a latter on the side of the building and Tomy and I followed. At the top the twins turned to us.

"You're going to have to fly from here. I put a compass in your backpack so just follow it west and you'll find the other bird-kids," said Dmitri.

Melinda picked up where Dmitri left off. "I'm really sorry that you have to fly even though you don't know how to, but if you stayed here, things would have been much, much worse."

I walked to the edge of the building. We were about 40 feet in the air. A long way to fall if I didn't learn to fly fast. I sort of rolled my shoulders and extended my wings. They were dark in the night and were shiny in areas. They were a bit smaller than I thought they would be, but it was probably because they weren't finished growing. Bits of downy feathers still clung to them. I looked over and saw Tomy standing on the edge of the building a few feet away with his wings extended, too. They looked light colored, but I couldn't tell what color exactly in the night.

I looked over my shoulder. The twins, Dmitri and Melinda huddled in each other's arms, gave me a nod. As if on some silent countdown, Tomy and I jumped off the roof.

I was first in a bit of a shock from jumping off a building, but then I remembered to flap. I pushed my new wings down as hard as possible. I brought them back up and then down again. I gained speed and height with each flap. I was flying! I spread my hands in front of me and laughed out loud. It was an amazing feeling; the wind in your face and going over your wings with each beat; the view of the land below; the clouds so close you could almost touch them.

I looked over at Tomy, who looked as happy as I felt. I gave him two thumbs up. He in turn let out a whoop of pure joy.

And there we flew without a care in the world. Flying high above the clouds and sometimes so close to the ground that our feathers hit the damp dirt.

* * *

**Me: I think I'm doing a pretty good job of writing this, if I do say so myself.**

**Nudge: I think we should let the readers decide. So what do you people thinnk? Does Alice suck at writing or is she OK?**

**Me: You can also say that I am a writing goddess or queen. -hint hint-**

**Nudge: -yawn- Can you just finsh this and post so I can go to sleep?**

**Me: Fine... Amazingly, I have nothing more to say.**

**Nudge: Holy crap. The day has come. Alice has nothing to say. **

**Me: I know, shocking, right?**

**R&R?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Me: WOW!**

**Nudge: Yeah, wow! We've reached 350 hits!**

**Me: To me, that's a record. Thanks to all who read this story! Y'all are awesome!**

**Nudge: All those hits almost makes me forget about that awful test we have to take tomorrow!**

**Me: One. You're HAPPY about that test? Two. If you keep talking about the test, you not going to forget about it! Hmph. Now I'm all annoyed about that test again.**

**Nudge: To everyone reading, "That test" is at 8 in the morning tomorrow for 3 freaking hours. Oh and we have to pass, like really good, if we want to make it into high school.**

**Me: -whacks—Bad grammar! It be "well", not good.**

**Nudge: -mutters—And you call me the one with bad grammar. **

**Me: That didn't count; I did it on purpose.**

**Nudge: -eyerolls— You're so tense that if a cell farted on the other side of the world, you'd leap to Jupiter and then run all the way to Pluto, which**_** is **_**a planet, before realizing it. **

**Me: -stares—That's… wow, I cann't even think of a word for it, it's so weird.**

**Nudge: But it's true.**

**Me: Yeeaaahhh, probably. **

…

…

…

**Ok, I'm going to stop ranting about random stuff now and get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Did I own any rights in the last chapter? –looks back—Nope. So chances are I don't own any rights now, either.**

**Dedication: Anyone everywhere who has taken a 3 hour + test. And not gone completely insane.**

**Me: Oh, just a quick note. This takes place before the end of Fang so this chapter may technically have spoilers, I dunno. Just saying.**

* * *

The air was cold and I didn't know what happened to my coat. Every one of my muscles ached and burned especially my wings. I was so tired, I could have fallen right out of the sky and slept for days. My stomach was grumbling for food.

It felt amazing.

I smiled at the sky ahead of me. It looked like someone had dropped a bag of diamonds on a midnight blue satin cloth. My feathers brushed against my arms, which were stuck out at my sides. Occasionally my wings brushed against Tomy's wings. I looked over at Tomy. His wings were beating irregularly; every so often he would beat them fast as if trying very hard to stay in the air. Other times he beat them slowly. Sometimes it looked like he just forgets to flap his wings.

"Hey," I called out to Tomy. Tomy swerved with some difficulty closer to me.

"Got something to say?" He asked.

I smiled and nodded. "We should land. I'm getting really tired."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Where?"

I looked at the landscape. While Tomy and I were unconscious the whitecoats must have moved us. We were slowly gliding over pine tree tops. It was a very dense forest and seemed to go on forever in every direction.

I squinted my eyes and tried to see further ahead. Then the most curious thing happened. Everything about 2 and a half miles away came into perfect focus. I could see each and every pine tree waving in the strong breeze. I could see a couple of squirrels on a late night acorn hunt. I saw a meadow surrounded by sentry pine trees. The meadow itself was about an acre big with tall, green grass and wild flowers growing in it. Then a suddenly as the sight appeared, it was gone.

I blinked, paused, and blinked again. _What happened?_ I thought. Perhaps it was a hawk's or some other bird's strong vision gene kicking in. I tried to see the meadow again but only saw the never-ending pine trees.

I must have had quite a strange look on my face, what with all the squinting because I could hear Tomy softly chuckling next to me.

"What are you trying to do? Using your laser vision to cut down the trees so we have a place to land?" He said jokingly.

I knit my eye brows together. "No. It's just—never mind." I pointed to around the area where I saw the large meadow. "There's a big meadow about 2 miles from here that we can land in."

Tomy nodded.

When we reached the meadow I saw that it looked just like it had looked from the sky about 2 and a half miles away. We were circling the meadow getting ready to land when Tomy says, "How do we land?"

I thought back to the days where I stared lazily out the classroom widow observing the sea gulls flying around the recess yard. The sea gulls always came when the little kids had snack time outside; the sea gulls would eat all the crumbs and bit of food the little kids left lying around.

"Um," I started out. "First you kind of put your wings out so you're falling slowly but not tumbling out of the sky. Then you stick your feet out. Then you flap really hard to slow down when you touch the ground." I swerved close to the meadow and came back up. "Then you just have to hope you land on your feet."

Tomy shrugged, stopped flapping his, and put his wings out. I mimicked his movements after he had descended some 20 feet. Unfortunately, I tucked my wings in a bit more that Tomy did and we ended up colliding 10 feet in the air and falling down to earth in a tangled heap of limbs and wings.

"Ow-ch! Your elbow's in my wings." I exclaimed once we collapsed in a pile.

"Yeah, well, your knee is in my back," Tomy grunted as a response.

We managed to disentangle ourselves after a few seconds of exclaiming, moving, and tucking in our wings.

I looked around the meadow. The grass was about knee-high but once you stepped on it, the grass flattened out. There were little clumps of colorful wild flowers dotting the tall grass. I wandered over to one edge of the meadow and found a bush of some bright orange berries. _Better not try and eat those_, I thought.

It felt unnatural to hold my wings against back so tightly so I let them unfold slightly. It must have looked like I had bright and shiny mini cherub wings.** (Random thought, my first grade teacher used to always call the class cherubs.) **

I sat down and took off my back pack to see if I had any food in it. I found a lunchbox that I had not packed in my bag.

"Hmm," was what I said when I saw the lunchbox. "Dmitri and Melinda must have packed us some stuff while we weren't looking."

Tomy walked over to where I was sitting and joined me on the cold, grassy ground. "Did they pack any food?"

I nodded and started to look through the lunchbox. There were 10 ham and cheese sandwiches, a few apples and bananas, and a lot of energy bars. I also found a thermos of hot chocolate, a thermos of broccoli and cheese soup, and a bunch of waters bottles and sports drinks. Other than the food there was a compass, flight maps of the U.S. and Canada, and an extra, blue heavy duty backpack, which I gave to Tomy.

"Thanks," he said when I handed him the extra backpack. He started munching on one of the ham and cheese sandwiches. "Dontchoo whant ohne?" He asked with his mouth full.

I wrinkled my nose and said, "Nope. I'm a vegetarian." I pulled an bright red apple out of the lunchbox. I rubbed the apple on my shirt and took a bite of it. The sweet apple juice exploded in my mouth. I wiped my sleeve across my mouth to catch the thin stream of apple juice.

Tomy peeked inside one of the sandwiches and said, "I think a few only have cheese in them. Do you want them?"

"Sure," I said and took the sandwich. We sat there eating our food and watching the sky. There was nothing for me to worry about. Just the fresh night air and me. My brow wrinkled. Tomy had a family.

"Hey Tomy," I said.

"Hmmm," He, well, hmm-ed and turned his head toward me.

"Do you miss your family? Like, what do you think they think happened to you?"

"Yeah, I miss them." He turned his head back to the twinkling night sky. "Melinda said one of the whitecoats went to my family and said that I was sent to a boarding school for the rest of the year. I can always visit them, though." He gestured to my half folded-half open wings.

"Hmm," was my only reply.

We started at the sky, deep in our own thoughts till we both fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, I could see the brilliant red sunlight through my eye lids. I opened my eyes and saw the gorgeous meadow. The sun lit up the multi-colored wild flowers and vivid green grass.

I brought my arms up and stretched them out. It was then that I realized that I was leaning on Tomy's shoulder while I was sleeping. I was blushing a light pink when Tomy woke up. Then my face turned an intense red.

"Oh. Hi," I said weakly. "Sorry to wake you up."

"S'ok," He muttered acting like he was still half asleep.

We ate some more of the food before pulling out the maps and compass.

"What direction did Dmitri and Melinda say we should go?" I asked opening the map.

Tomy chomped on an apple and swallowed. "I'm sure it was west." He waved the apple in my direction. "How far west I don't know."

I folded up the maps and stood up. "Well, we'll go east till we hit California. If we find the other bird kids before then, well, that's pretty self-explanatory. To reach California could take anywhere between 1 to 3 days of flight 'cause I have no idea where the hell we are."

Tomy stood up. "Then we'd better get going." He whipped out his wings, which were about 7 and a half feet each. Now in the light I could see that they were black at the top then dark gray with spots of black everywhere. I rolled my shoulders to unfold my wings. My wings were 8 feet each and multi-colored; shiny reds, blue, greens, and purples. Come to think of it, they looked like over-sized hummingbird wings.

"I think I'm part humming bird," I thought out loud.

Tomy looked at his wings. "I'm not sure which bird they put in me."

"You'll find out, hopefully." I pulled the compass out of my bag before putting on my backpack. I found west and turned to face it. "We got to go that-a way."

Tomy's eyebrows knit together. "How are we supposed to get in the air?"

I stuck my arms out like a plane. "Trial and error," I laughed and ran. I jumped up. I felt like everything slowed around me. Like I was moving through jell-o, I thrust my wings down and pulled them back up. I rose higher and higher as I flapped my wings.

I looked down and saw Tomy joining me in the sky. We flew high above the sky and turned to the East.

About 10 hours, 5 food breaks, and a very angry woodpecker attack later, we were out of food and back in some forest. I looked in the distance and saw a column of gray clouds. _Rain?_ I thought. Then the hawk vision kicked in and I could see a house and that the gray clouds were really smoke coming from the chimney. After seeing the house, my hawk vision was gone again.

"Hey!" I called to Tomy. "There's a house up a head. Maybe the birdkids live!" I flapped my wings faster to get to the house sooner.

"Let' s go then," he replied and sped up.

In a few minutes we were circling the house. It must have been the birdkids house. Who else would build a house and have the door on the second floor?

"Hey, Tomy. I'm gonna try and land on the ledge ion front of the door. Wish me luck!" I headed down to the door.

"Good luck!" I heard Tomy call after me.

I descended slowly so I didn't run into the side of the house. Then I came at the door very carefully. Despite my best efforts, I rammed into the door and almost fell off the ledge. I managed to stay on by nearly pulling out the mailbox. I composed myself, smooth my frizzy hair as best as I could but left my wings in "cherub mode".

Then I knocked on the door.

I waited for a few minutes before someone peaked out the left-side window thought the curtain. I could hear someone's running footsteps. They unlocked the door and opened it. It was a 12 or 13 year old African-American girl with very poufy hair. She stared at me open mouthed.

I blushed a bit, shuffled my feet uncomfortably and said, "Hi. I'm Beatrice Griffiths."

The girl snapped her mouth shut with an audible clack.

"Someone told me I could find you guys here and I-."

"Holy crap! Iggy, someone made a girl copy of you!" the poufy-haired girl yelled out.

* * *

**Me: Hmm. This chapter is longer than the others. That's good!**

**Nudge: That just means less sleep for us. And more of a chance we'll fall asleep during that test.**

**Me; Nudge, you are so depressing me.**

**Nudge: -shruggs—Meh.**

**Me: Well, tell us what you think of the chapter! **

**Nudge: And wish us lots of good luck for the test! **

**R&R? And/or wish us good luck?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Me and Nudge: Snow, snow snow! We love snow!**

**Me: -laughs- Snow is awesome. Just awesome.**

**Nudge: Even better when it gives you snow days!**

**Me: Yep! We had, like, 2 days of school last week 'cause of the snow storms. Oh, and today, too!**

**Nudge: But the best part has to be the giant snow drifts is parking lots. **

**Me: -nods- One minute you're walking in the mall parking lot, the next you climbing a snow drift the size of Everest!**

**Nudge: All the more better when you're waving to the people on the highway then step back and slide down the mountain.**

**Me: -laughs- True, true. Whatever would we do without snow?**

**Disclaimer: Mwah haha ha! I own Maximum Ride! Eh, no, not really. **

**Dedication: To everyone! Everyone deserves to be appreciated! **

* * *

"What?" came the shouts from the room to my left. I heard the sounds of people, three I think, getting over the couch and running over.

The first to appear was a girl of about 15 with brown-blonde hair and brown eyes. Then came a boy of 9 and a girl of around 7. They seemed to be related because of their matching blue eyes and blonde hair, though the girl's was curly. They all seemed shocked and just a bit confused.

It was quiet for all of a few seconds. Then came the flurry of questions.

"Who are you?"

"How did you find us?"

"Are those _wings_?"

I was so surprised by these kids' sudden onslaught of questions that I just stood there in a confused stupor until the dirty blonde-haired girl raised her arms up to quiet them. After a few seconds they calmed down.

"What are you guys yelling about? I can barely hear my iPod," someone irritably called from the top of the wooden staircase to my right.

The dude who climbed down the staircase was around 15 looking. Oh, and did I mention _he looked like my freaking twin_? Same strawberry blonde hair, same ice blue eyes, same pale skin. Hell, I think we were the same height!

"Well?" he said when he reached the last step. "What's going on?" His eyes were looking intently at the group of people who had come from the other room but not on one specific person.

Now that I look back on the group there was someone extra there. A guy of roughly 15, who had dark hair and eyes, had materialized out of nowhere. Now, how had I missed that?

The girl with dirty blonde hair -the leader I suppose- spoke first. "There's a girl here and…" She trailed off, presumably because she did not know why I was here.

"And she looks just like you!" the dark-skinned girl burst out.

My "twin" raised his eyebrows and said, "Really?" as his response. Then he turned to me and stared at a spot just to the left of me.

I figured this was the time to start explaining before they decide to kick me out. "We, uh, my friend and I just—well maybe not just; it was probably a few days ago—escaped from this place that, well, they gave us wings and these people - Dmitri and Melinda—helped us escape and told us to go east and, and this is where we ended up and-"

The leader girl interrupted my stumbling speech. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. You're talking faster the Nudge on espresso. You and you friends _got _wings? How? And more importantly why?"

"Look, I promise to answer all your questions but can my friend come in?" I leaned out the door and searched to the sky for Tomy. I found him circling the house and put my hands up in a "hang on a minute" gesture before turning back into the house. "We've been flying for days now and we're really tired so can he come in? If you don't want us here after we'll leave, I swear."

The leader girl looked at the little blonde girl who nodded then nodded to me. "Sure. He can come in."

I leaned back out the door. I waved my hands to say he can come in. Tomy gave me a thumbs-up and started the decent to the door.

I stepped away from the door and said nervously, "I'd stand back from the door if I were you. We just flew for the first time a few days ago so we're not the best landers."

Tomy flew down as slow as he could and stepped on the ledge down in front of the door. He tucked away his wings, but he had undershot the landing and started to fall back off the ledge. I reached out and grabbed his hand. I got a better grip on the doorframe and yanked him back in the house. Tomy held my hand for a little longer after I pulled him in the house before letting go somewhat reluctantly.

Everyone but the tall, dark dude and the leader girl had gone into the room to my left.

"Er, hello," Tomy said awkwardly. They nodded and walked into the room.

"Well they seem nice," Tomy whispered to me.

I smiled in response and walked to the room. It was a living room. It had a fireplace at one end and a TV on the wall right across from us. There was every game system imaginable scattered on the table under the TV. The couches were mismatched but fit in with the room. There was a giant window seat on the left side of the room, overlooking the forest. Over all, the living room looked like it was designed by kids but looked and felt very home-like and nice.

The leader girl picked a remote, turned off the cartoons on the TV, and then tossed the remote on the coffee table already littered with plates and magazines. I picked a blue cloth loveseat to sit and Tomy sat down next to me.

"So," the blonde-brown girl said as she fell back onto a chocolate brown leather recliner. "I'm Max."

"I'm Angel and that's my brother Gazzy," said the little blonde girl as she pointed in turn to her and her brother.

The dark-skinned girl said, "I'm Nudge. That over there is Iggy." She motioned to the strawberry blonde boy then the dark-eyed one. "And that's Fang. Oh, and that's Total over there." She pointed to the little black dog walking in the room. He looked a bit bigger than a Scottish Terrier.

The dog looked over at me and Tomy. "Hello…. I'm not even going ask." He padded over to Angel and sat by her.

Oh. Lovely. They have a talking dog.

Max rammed the footrest of the recliner back in the chair. "Our story: We were made by the White Coats at this place called the School. We escaped with help from this man named Jeb. He left us 2 years after he rescued us. We've basically been on our own since then. So what's your story?"

I smoothed down my red trench coat. "Well, I suppose it started when we went on a field trip to Itex…" And so Tomy and I told our story from over the past week, one of us adding in parts the other missed or forgot. It seems like such a longer time than that.

When we finished, I asked, "So… Any questions?"

"_Why_ would you willingly going in Itex?" asked Iggy.

"Well, we did not know," I answered.

"If the school thinks it's fine to go there then, it should have been safe," Tomy added.

Max asked, "Why can't you guys just go home?"

"They told Tomy's parents that he was sent to boarding school for the rest of the year," I explained. "Besides, we _escaped_. They will want us back to continue testing on us. They are probably searching for us. We can't go back."

"What about you, Beatrice? What about your family?" Angel asked.

I looked at the floor and shuffled my feet. "My parents didn't want me; they sent me to a foster house right after I was born. The caretaker there told me that my parents had just lost a child before I was born." I looked up. "I do not even know who they are."

"Oh!" Angel remarked as Nudge said, "I'm so sorry."

I smiled a bit sadly and said, "Thanks. But let's get past all this gloom and doom; it's very down putting."

Fang nodded. "I guess you're gonna ask if you can stay here, now."

"Yeah, pretty much," I replied.

Max thought about the idea for a second. "Sure. Why not? No one seems to be against it."

A chorus of happy shouts went up. I laughed a little and nudged Tomy with my shoulder. Tomy grinned and said, "Told you they were nice people."

* * *

**Me: And now that this is written, we shall go jump around in the snow till we're blue with cold and forstbite has numbed our fingers and toes!**

**Nudge: Yes, we _shall_! **

**R&R?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: Hey, Nudge. Do you know what day it is today?**

**Nudge: Er, no.**

**Me: -gasps- Gasp! It's Brigette's birthday today!**

**Nudge: Oh. Well, Happy Birthday, Brigette!**

**Me: Good Nudge. Brigtte is my cute little Caviar King Charles Spaniel and is turning 4 today.**

**Nudge: Did I miss the party? I LOVE parties.**

**Me: No really a party. Mostly just food. **

**Nudge: Food like dog food?**

**Me: No. More like chicken and crackers.**

**Nudge: Quite the feast.**

**Disclaimer: Say it with me now. I own nothing.**

**Dedication: All animal birthdays!**

* * *

A knock from the door interrupted my slumber. Soft and hesitant at first then louder and faster. I groaned. Who the hell is knocking on my door at this unholy hour of the morning?

"Come one Beatrice, get up! You're gonna miss breakfast," Tomy yelled through the door.

I groaned again and called out sleepily, "I'm comin'!"

I untangled my arms from the nest of sheets and turned the alarm clock toward me. Through a lingering cloud of sleep I saw it was 8:30 in the morning. Geez, these people get up early. The only instance that I get up earlier than noon is school.

I patted the bare nightstand to try and find my glasses. I found them alright, right when I knocked them off the nightstand and across the room. I rolled over trying to disentangle myself from the blankets but I was closer to the edge of the bed than I thought and ended up on the floor with a loud thump.

I muttered an oath and walked over to get my glasses which had survived their run in with the wall.

Yesterday, after talking to the kids here (they call themselves the Flock), it was nearly ten at night. Tomy and I slept in a couple of guest rooms because they occasionally had visitors. Who would visit six bird kids and a talking dog in the middle of nowhere I have no idea. The flock also said that if Tomy and I are going to stay here, we have to help out.

I picked up my backpack and pulled out an over-sized sweatshirt that was still relatively in one piece. All the rough landings through trees had really done a number on my clothes. _I should ask Nudge where I could buy some more clothes, _I thought.

As I was about to walk out the bedroom, I got a good look at it. I had been so tired last night that I had just collapsed in bed without a second thought. The room was smallish but cozy. The walls were lilac colored wallpaper with monochromatic flowers and had a fancy white edge around the ceiling. The bed, wardrobe, bureau, and night stands were all antique white and looked vaguely Victorian. Lacey, white curtains covered the windows and matched with the bedding. I had amazingly managed to flop into bed and miss the giant wood chest with dark violet cushions in front of it.

I walked down the hall to the kitchen and noticed the whole house was reminiscent of the Victorian age. In the kitchen there were people bustling about everywhere, all preparing for breakfast.

I walked up to Iggy, who was cooking, and asked, "Good morning. So, what can I do?"

"Hey. Can you grab that purple bowl over there?" he pointed with the spoon he was mixing pancake batter with to an area off to my right.

Nudge had told me yesterday that Iggy was blind so I do not how he could tell what color the bowl was. I said okay and grabbed the bowl. It was full of flour and sugar.

"I can feel colors," he said as I handed him the bowl, "to answer your unasked question."

"Oh. Neat power," I replied slightly befuddled. "Does everyone have a power?"

Iggy flipped a pancake a couple times in the air and caught it unerringly in the pan. "Yep, though we all have different ones."

"Hmm. Is there anything else I can do?"

The clatter of plates made me turn around. Nudge was holding about a dozen empty plates, ten plates full of various breakfast foods, and a bunch of silverware.

"Well, you can help me set the table," Nudge said from around a mountain a scrambled eggs.

I grabbed a cluster of the plates and a handful of forks and spoons. I had grabbed too many spoons in one hand and a few slipped out of my grasp on my mad run to the table. I tried to snatch them but the spoons stopped in mid-air. They hovered there for a second then flew to Nudge where they stuck on her arm. My mouth dropped in a little O of surprise and I almost dropped a plate of toast balanced precariously on top of my tower of food. I snapped my mouth shut and quickly placed the plates on the table.

"Whoa! How did you do that?" I exclaimed. "That is so _cool_!"

Nudge smiled big. "Thanks! I can attract metal to myself. It really comes in handy sometimes."

I nodded and said, "You're welcome." I set the plates in their proper spots and finished setting up the rest of the table.

The breakfast was amazing. I never knew that being a bird kid meant you have to eat so much. All the more better to more pancakes.

"Hey, Tomy. Do you think we'll have any powers?" I asked as we were cleaning up.

"Maybe we'll develop a couple. But as for now, our power is washing dishes." He replied putting a bowl in the dishwasher.

* * *

I spat out a mouthful of earth and pine needles. This was the nth time I had done a face plant in the dirt.

Tomy and I were getting flying lessons from Max and Nudge. We were in the field and forest in the backyard of the house.

I spat out a few wisps of grass and tucked my wings in. They had grown overnight to fifteen feet of beautiful jewel tone wings. Now those pretty feathers were filthy and had twigs and leaves stuck in them. _How would I pull out the foliage at the ends of my wings? _I thought randomly. _Can I even reach the middle wings?_ Questions, questions.

"Need some help?" Tomy stood over me with his hand out. I grabbed it and pulled myself up.

"Thanks. You know, I think I'm getting worse," I said brushing uselessly at the dirt on my tattered jeans.

He chuckled. "At least you can get in the air."

We were doing oppositely at our flying. Tomy could land like a pro but had a hard time taking off. I could take off like there was no tomorrow but was the world's crappiest lander.

We walked over to where Max and Nudge were standing. They gave us tips and told us what we were doing wrong but mostly they laughed at the epic fails of Tomy's and my flying.

"You have to be more vertical, Beatrice!" Nudge yelled went we got closer. "You're trying to land practically lying down."

I saluted her. "Yes, Coach Nudge."

I turned and ran down the field and jumped into the air, quickly unfurling my wings. A giant shoot of meadow fell from my wings to the ground. Damn.

I pointed one wing down and turned in a huge circle. I picked a flat place to land far from any trees or bushes. I tucked my wings in a bit and angled my feet down vertically.

I heard a thunk and saw that Tomy and fallen in a tangle of limbs attempting to take off. I smiled and shook my head. Poor dude.

I looked back to the spot I picked to land but I was way closer than I thought and was going horizontal. _Oh, not another face plant_ I thought desperately. I spread my wings out wide and tried to backpedal. If only the ground was farther away. I closed my eyes and prepared for a nice mouthful of soil.

Only it never came. I peeked out one eye. I was standing. My eyes shot open. The ground had cratered somehow. A six foot crater. Whoa.

Tomy, Max, and Nudge came running over.

Nudge came up already babbling about my landing. "Did you see that? The ground was all like _wfoosh! _And then you landed in it. But seriously it was incredible! Like-" Max put her hand over Nudge's mouth.

"How did you do that?" Max asked tersely, her hand still muffling Nudge's rambling.

"I—I don't know. I just kind of thought of the ground moving and, and," I stuttered to an end, not knowing how to finish my sentence.

"It was like the ground just caved in before you even touched it," Tomy thought out loud.

"On that thought, someone want to help me out?" I called up from my Beatrice-sized hole.

They looked down and seemed to realize I was stuck in the ground. I raised my eyebrows to say "Gonna help or not?"

Tomy and Max started to lean down to pull me our but Nudge stopped them.

"If she caved in the ground," she said thoughtfully, "maybe she can make it come back up."

"Maybe," I said. I imagined the ground coming back up to its normal flatness. I felt the earth start move slowly up.

"Whoa," Nudge gasped.

"Yeah, whoa," Max agreed.

"Try something else," Tomy suggested but he was suppressing knowing smile.

I concentrated and sure enough the earth around us detached itself from the rest of the ground around it and floated up in star form. I let the dirt come back down to its rightful place.

Tomy grinned and I could feel a smile tugging at my own lips.

"Well, I, uh, do believe I have developed a new power," I announced beaming.

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**Me: And that's my pitiful attempt at romance.**

**Nudge: Alice- The writer who can't write. Nice Title.**

**Me: Nudge- Motormouth who eats as much as a panda.**

**Nudge: O_o Panda?**

**Me: -shrugs- What? They eat a lot.**

**R&R?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Me: Last chapter sorry guys, I just can't keep writing this because I have way too much school work and not enough time. **

**Nudge: Bet you regret taking all honors now.**

**Me: Omfg some shoot me for doing that. But, yeah, it was fun writing this while I did but it's time to end it. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride I would be able to freaking afford to buy a One Direction concert. But I don't. Shit.**

**Dedication: The lovely editor of this last chapter, you know who you are :) And to Phoebstar989 for inspiring me to actually write another chapter for this, albeit the last. Hope you like it!**

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"And now for the main course," Iggy said as he placed the roast ham unerringly in the center of the table.

The rest of the flock let out a small cheer before digging in the delicious meal Iggy had prepared from his new cookbook with Gazzy's help, of course.

"So," Fang started, "You found out you have powers?" He looked up from his plate-full of food only after finishing the question.

I set down my knife and fork before answering. "Well, I did; I can move earth, more or less."

Tomy waved a fork-full of ham and stated, quite obviously, "I can fly, Kind of."

I quietly chuckled a bit to myself "Yeah, we aren't quite the best fliers yet."

Nudge smiled with a cheek full of food. "That's alright. You'll be flying like us in no time!"

"Do you know how much dirt you can move?" Iggy intervened while staring at a point somewhere to my right.

"Um, not really," I replied. "We didn't test it much because we were so tired from flight practice."

"You know," Angel said out of nowhere, "You and Iggy look a lot alike. Like, really creepily."

"Yeah, they do," Nudge said pensively. "What did you say your last name was?"

"Griffiths," I replied automatically.

I didn't think much of it but the name seemed to have cast a spell over the rest of the table. Everyone seemed paralyzed even Tomy strangely enough. Why should that name make him react like that? Fang and Max exchanged looks. It was infuriating because I had no idea what was going on and voiced as much.

"What of it?" I queried, slightly annoyed.

"Well," Max drew out the word. "It just so happens that Iggy's parents' last name was Griffiths. And you look ridiculously alike." She left the thought in the air for us to draw the conclusion.

"You think me and Iggy are related somehow?" I spluttered. I'd never thought I might have a sibling, much less that I would ever meet them.

Max held her hands up, meaning to calm me down. "It's just a suggestion." I noticed that Angel nodded her head a bit, in agreement I suppose, though she had a pensive look that suggested something else but I just brushed it off. It was probably nothing.

I looked at Iggy and how much we looked alike. Same hair color and texture. Same pale skin and icy blue eyes. "Well…" I drawled. "I see how that would look that way but…" I looked at Tomy for support and to carry on what I was saying. But instead he shocked us all.

"Actually, when I was waiting in the other exam room for the scientists to come in, I read some papers they had left out. It was about their first experimentations with recombinant DNA. Specifically avian," he said with a pointed look to the other avian Americans sat at the table. "The first file was marked Griffiths and Iggy's picture on it."

Sharp gasps and wide eyes were all around the table, except for Angel. She looked like she'd already heard this before but- Oh wait she could read minds, I remembered. She probably read Tomy's while he mulled over what he'd read and the rest of us were arguing.

But I was still slightly indignant with Tomy. "Why didn't you tell me- us," I corrected myself, "Before?"

He shrugged. "I forgot about it in the whole hubbub of escaping."

"Oh. Uhm, good point. Continue," I said somewhat bashfully.

"Well, I didn't have time to read the whole thing but it mentioned that Iggy's parents had a daughter that would have made a perfect test subject for recombinant avian DNA. But the parents gave away their daughter and they lost track of her." Tomy furrowed his brow and looked at the ceiling like whatever he was thinking was written there. "I remember a birthday. September… 23? No it was the 13th! Yeah, that's it!" He looked at the curious faces around the table. "Does that mean anything to anyone?"

I think my face said everything that was on my mind because Max asked, "Beatrice….?"

"Um," I stuttered in shock. "That's my birthday."

If it was possible to be in even more shock, they were.

Then something connected in my mind. "Tomy. Do you remember when we first barged in on the scientists, they whispered about us and looked at me like I had two heads?" I didn't wait for him to respond. "That must be why they were so willing to experiment on us! They recognized me. I mean, Iggy and I could be twins practically. They figured I was his sister and wanted to test it if was true."

"Yeah, I remember that!" Tomy remarked.

"That would make a lot of sense," Fang said.

"Yeah, if they thought you were just normal kid, they would've kicked you out right then and there," Max stated bluntly.

"So I have a sister…" Iggy added. "Interesting. Nice to meet you sister," he said with a comical little salute.

I laughed a bit, relieved to have the tension gone. "Howdy there brother."

"Well." a voice cleared his throat. Everyone's head whipped around to look at Total, who we had completely forgotten about in our conversation. "Can we keep eating now? Because I'm starved. And those mashed potatoes are going to be horrible after it cools."

We all laughed a bit and dug back into our food, casually bantering like we'd know each other for ages.

I was weird to think I had a brother now. I'd grown up practically parent-less and didn't have many good friends and now out of nowhere I had a brother and something like a family. I looked around the table at the ragtag bunch of kids, nobody really looking alike, except the actually related, but we were all practically in the same situation. Not quite human nor bird with people hunting after us while we just wanted a normal life. I smiled to myself and shook my head a bit.

Tomy looked over at me, a questioning look on his face. I just smiled and shook my head, amazed at this whole situation.

The weirdest circumstances can bring total strangers together but we all have something in common that draws us together.

Even though we didn't know how long we'd be safe or what we would do next, those concerns seemed forgotten in all the silly palaver. We'd take the days' battles as they came and enjoy life whenever we could. 'Cause that's what it was all about, right? Enjoy what you have now before it's gone and when things seem bleak and stormy, well, you have to put up with the rain to see the rainbow.

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**Me: Rather open ending, make up whatever you want to happen next. Really sorry I can't keep writing this, but thanks for reading it, I really appreciate it :)**

**Nudge: Got kinda deep at the end there. ARE YOU SECRETLY ZAYN?**

**Me: *facepalm* WELL. But seriously, thanks for reading this, love you all, and good bye **

**R&R? For One Direction? LOL**


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